China Welcomes Church´s Work for Lepers

Austrian Father Louis Gutheinz and the Sisters Oblates of the Holy Family, in collaboration with the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, have undertaken a project to care for lepers, particularly in the Jiangxi and Sichuan regions.

Their work in leprosariums is in response to a request from Chinese health authorities and has the approval of the Communist authorities.

The VID news service (http://www.vidimusdominum.org) reported that there are 114 leprosariums in China. They can only care for a small part of the 320,000 victims of Hansen´s disease in the whole of continental China.

Between 1997 and 1999, Father Gutheinz traveled to China several times to study the situation. Then, last May, the Sisters Oblates of the Holy Family began to send religious to the leprosariums in Jiangxi and Sichuan.